Royal(t)y screwed

 It takes a heapin' helpin' of stupid to do what Formula One did yesterday, which is basically tell motorsports royalty to (take) right off. And then to justify it with a standup  routine worthy of Jim Gaffigan or Jerry Seinfeld.

What F1 did, see, is tell Michael Andretti, son of Mario, that it didn't want the F1 package he put together, at least for the time being. Said it wouldn't be "competitive". Said, essentially, that the Andretti name meant nothing to F1, even though Mario is a former F1 champion who made the Andretti name one of the most recognized and revered in all of motorsport.

And by "all of", we mean "everywhere." As in, "not just in the United States."

This is some next-level dumb F1's rolling out here, not to say next-level shooting itself in the foot. The excellent Netflix series "Drive To Survive" has given the sport a heightened presence in the lucrative American market, to the extent that F1 now has three U.S. races -- Miami, Texas and Las Vegas. Adding the Andretti name to its stable would have been one more tap in a potential gusher of a revenue stream.

Instead, F1 once again looked down its patrician nose at America by looking down its nose at the Andrettis. And by reaching new heights of delusion by claiming the Andrettis would more benefit from an association with F1 than F1 would from an association with the Andretti name.

Oh, the howling among motorsports journalists that surely greeted that juicy absurdity.

It was rivaled in the "You can't be serious" department only by F1's other pronouncement: That it turned down the Andretti bid because it feared the team wouldn't be "competitive."

Competitive? You mean like F1 is now?

The sport just concluded a season, after all, in which one driver won 19 of the 22 races, and one team 21 of  22. The only team that stood on the top step of the podium, other than Red Bull, was Ferrari when Carlos Sainz won in Singapore. And except for the odd appearance by Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes (Fernando Alonso) and Alpine Renault (Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon), the only teams to regularly occupy the podium were Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren Mercedes.

Which means half the grid wasn't competitive. Could Andretti perform worse than Haas, Alfa Romeo, AlphaTauri or Williams?

Seems to me the addition of an American team with an American engine manufacturer (Cadillac) would add one more element of interest to distract us from the fact F1 has become The Tournament of Roses Parade Sponsored By Max Verstappen And Red Bull. But what do I know?

I still remember who Mario Andretti is.